The report said that Syrian forces struck at Aleppo´s Salaheddine
district, a gateway into the city of 2.5 million people that has
become the frontline of the conflict that has killed some 18,000
people.

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A local rebel commander said his fighters were preparing for
a “strong offensive” by government forces on the city.

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Meanwhile in the capital Damascus, jets bombarded the city as troops
kept up an offensive they began on Friday to storm the last rebel
bastion there, a resident said.

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Both cities had been relatively free from violence during the 17-
month uprising but fighting flared in Damascus after a July 18
bombing which killed four of Assad´s inner circle and also erupted in
Aleppo.

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A rebel commander in Aleppo told Reuters on Saturday he expected a
Syrian army attack on rebels “within days.”

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“We know they are planning to attack the city using tanks and
aircraft, shooting at us for three to four days and they plan to take
the city,” Colonel Abdel-Jabbar al-Oqaidi said.

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Rebels tried to extend their area of control in Aleppo from
Salaheddine to the area around the television and radio station, but
were pushed back by Assad´s troops, an activist said.

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In Damascus, a resident in the Adawi neighbourhood just north of the
central Old City reported that jets had pounded an area of the
capital on Saturday.

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On Friday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn
the Syrian government and demanded a political transition in Syria.

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The 193-nation assembly approved the Saudi-drafted resolution, which
expressed “grave concern” at the escalation of violence in Syria,
with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions.

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Assad´s staunch ally Russia was among the 12 countries that opposed
the resolution in the assembly, where no country has a veto but all
decisions are non-binding. Others that voted against it included
China, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Cuba and other nations that often
criticize the West.

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Russia later condemned the resolution on Syria as “harmful,”
complaining that it was tantamount to a show of support for rebels
fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. UN Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin said that the Saudi-drafted resolution “hides blatant
support to the armed opposition.”